Gutter hanger



ept. 29, 1964 D. A. RITCHIE a-rm.

CUTTER HANGER Filed April 11, 1963 I IIIIJ II IIIII llllllllllllllll I. llll ll United States Patent ()filice 3,150,851 Patented Sept. 29, 1964 3,150,851 GUTTER HANGER David A. Ritchie, Annisquam, and Philip F. Hall, Jr.,

North Cohasset, Masa, assignors to Lamb & Ritchie Company, Cambridge, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Apr. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 272,357 Claims. (Cl. 24848.2)

This invention relates to hangers for mounting gutters on buildings, and more particularly to hangers for mounting metal gutters.

The vaious types of hangers presently used consist in general of a strap which is attached to the wall of the building and passes around the bottom and outside wall of the gutter. These hangers are sometimes diflicult to mount and detract from the appearance of the gutter assembly, especially when dirt accumulates between the strap and the gutter.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a hanger which can be easily mounted on a building and assembled with a gutter, and which adequately supports the outer wall of the gutter while leaving smooth, unbroken surfaces on the bottom and outside surfaces which are the normally visible surfaces of the gutter. Another object is to provinde a hanger which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

The hanger consists in general of a strap which is nailed or screwed to the wall of the building and has upper and lower flanges which grip the gutter at the rear, and a clip which passes over the top of the gutter and interlocks with the strap and the front edge of the gutter.

In the drawings illustrating the invention:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view partly in cross-section of a gutter assembled with a hanger constructed according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the strap portion of the hanger; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the clip portion of the hanger.

The gutter, generally indicated by the numeral 10, is a typical metal gutter having a vertical rear wall 11, a flat bottom wall 12, and a front wall 13 formed in an ornamental curve. On the upper edge of wall 13 is an angular rim 14 terminating in a turned-in lip 15. The gutter may be extruded or formed from sheet metal in any customary manner.

The strap, generally indicated by the numeral 16, has a flat rear wall 17, a forwardly projecting flange 18 at the bottom, a down-turned flange 19 at the top, and an up-turned lip 2% extending from the lower edge of flange 19. Wall 17 carries a rib 21 near the bottom and is provided with nail holes 22. This wall also has a transverse groove 23, and flange 19 carries a sharp pointed rib 24 facing the groove. As initially formed, flange 19 slopes obliquely outward, as shown in FIG. 2. Flange 19 and lip 21 define a groove 25 having serrations 26 along its walls. Flange 18 has transverse serrations 27 on its upper side.

The clip, generally indicated by the numeral 28, has a flat central portion 29, an upstanding flange 3t) and a rearwardly extending pointed lip 31 at the front end, and a down-turned flange 32 at the rear end. The clip also has an upstanding rib 33 at the rear. Flange 32 has serrations 34 along both sides. The strap and clip can both be made most conveniently by cutting off pieces of the desired width from long aluminum extrusions of appropriate sectional shapes.

In mounting the gutter, the strap 16 is first nailed or screwed to the wall 35 of the building. It is understood that two or more hangers are used at spaced intervals to mount a length of gutter, and all the straps for a section of gutters are secured to the building before the gutter is put in place. The upper edge of wall 11 of the gutter is inserted between rear wall 17 of the strap, and flange 19, and gutter is pushed back so that the rear portion of its bottom wall 12 rests on flange 18. Flange 19 is then bent parallel to wall 17 so that the intervening portion of the rear wall of the gutter is crumped by rib 24 into groove 23. The gutter is thus securely locked in place.

The lip 31 of the clip is hooked under lip 15 of the gutter, and flange 32 is pressed down into groove 25 of the strap. This is conveniently done by pressing with a screw driver at the junction of central portion 29 and rib 33. The rib prevents the tool from slipping back. When the clip is in place, flange 30 and lip 31 fit inside rim 14 of the gutter, and the clip acts as both a brace and a tie for the front portion of the gutter.

When the gutter is assembled onto the hanger, the only portion of the hanger which is visible from below is the relatively short flange 18, which can be seen only by a person standing close to the wall. At the positions from which a building is normally viewed, the gutter presents a smooth, unbroken line. The visible surfaces of the gutter can be easily cleaned and painted and there are no crevices in which dirt can accumulate as it does on ordinary strap type of hanger which passes entirely around the gutter. Another advantage of the new type of hanger is that it can be used with gutters having a wide variety of front wall shapes. The architect thus has a wide latitude in designing the gutter to harmonize with the style of the building, without the expense of having hangers custom-made to fit the gutters.

What is claimed is:

1. A gutter hanger, for a roof gutter of the type having a rear wall, a bottom wall and a front wall with an inturned upper lip, comprising a separable strap and clip, said strap having upper and lower flanges adapted to overlie and underlie respectively said rear wall, said clip having a hook portion adapted to interlock with said lip, an upturned lip on the upper flange of said strip, and a downturned flange on said clip engaged with the lip on said strap, said lip and the flange of said clip forming an interlocking connection between said strap and said clip.

2. A gutter hanger, for a roof gutter of the type having a rear wall, a bottom wall and a front wall with an inturned upper lip, comprising a separable strap and clip, said strap having a body portion and an upper flange connected to said body portion and extending downward and adapted to secure said rear wall against said body portion, said strap also having a lower flange adapted to underlie said rear wall, said upper flange carrying a lip extending upward substantially parallel thereto and spaced therefrom, and said clip having a downwardly extend ing flange disposed between said upper flange and the lip carried thereby and a hook portion adapted to interlock with the lip of said gutter.

3. A gutter hanger as described in claim 2, said upper flange and its lip having opposed serrated faces, and the flange on said clip having serrated side faces.

4. A gutter hanger as described in claim 2, said body portion having a groove and said upper flange having a rib facing said groove and adapted to indent the intervening portion of said rear Wall when the gutter is assembled with the hanger.

5. A gutter hanger as described in claim 2, said clip having an upstanding rib in the region of its downwardly extending flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bauhammer Apr. 21, 1953 Gordon June 7, 1955 Cohen July 12, 1955 Graving et a1. July 25, 1959 

1. A GUTTER HANGER, FOR A ROOF GUTTER OF THE TYPE HAVING A REAR WALL, A BOTTOM WALL AND A FRONT WALL WITH AN INTURNED UPPER LIP, COMPRISING A SEPARABLE STRAP AND CLIP, SAID STRAP HAVING UPPER AND LOWER FLANGES ADAPTED TO OVERLIE AND UNDERLIE RESPECTIVELY SAID REAR WALL, SAID CLIP HAVING A HOOK PORTION ADAPTED TO INTERLOCK WITH SAID LIP, AN UPTURNED LIP ON THE UPPER FLANGE OF SAID STRIP, AND A DOWNTURNED FLANGE ON SAID CLIP ENGAGED WITH THE LIP ON 